THURSDAY, April 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) The number of calls to poison control centers for nicotine poisoning from e cigarettes has risen dramatically in recent years, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

Calls related to poisoning from the liquid nicotine used in these devices were running at a rate of roughly one a month in 2010, but jumped to 215 in February of this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Even more troubling, more than half (51 percent) of the poison calls involved children aged 5 and younger, while 42 percent involved people aged 20 and older.

“The time has come to start thinking about what we can do to keep this from turning into an even worse public health problem,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.

He added that many people are not aware that liquid nicotine is toxic. “We need to make sure we can avert the possibility of an unintended death from nicotine poisoning,” he said.

“We have not had an unintentional poisoning death from e cigarettes yet in the United States that we know of, but the potential is there given the amount of concentrated nicotine in these solutions it would not take a lot for a child death to occur,” McAfee noted.

CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden noted in a news release that e cigarettes are particularly attractive to kids because they come in candy and fruit flavors.

Dr. Vincenzo Maniaci, an emergency medicine specialist at Miami Children’s Hospital, agreed that the danger to children is real.

“The concentration of nicotine in these solutions is significant and they need to be made childproof and regulated,” Maniaci said. “Especially for kids under the age of 5, this amount of nicotine can be fatal.”

McAfee noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to propose regulations for e cigarettes. He added that he hopes these regulations will include how the product is packaged, including childproof caps and warning labels.

“These things can be hardwired into these products, rather than being left to the whim of the manufacturer,” he said.

In the meantime, McAfee advised keeping these devices, and their refills, out of the reach of children.

“These should be treated with the same caution one would use for bleach. In some ways, this is more toxic than bleach,” he said.

Poisoning from the liquid nicotine in e cigarettes can happen in one of three ways by swallowing it inhaling it or absorbing it through the skin or membranes in the mouth and lips or eyes, McAfee said. Once it is in a person’s system, nicotine can cause nausea, vomiting or seizures.

If those symptoms are occurring, the patient will typically be told to go straight to the emergency room, said Amy Hanoian Fontana, from the Connecticut Poison Control Center.

Packets of ten cigarettes will be banned in the UK by 2016 after the European Parliament voted in favour of tough new anti smoking rules governing the tobacco market.

The raft of new measures also include the introduction of mandatory picture and text health warnings covering about two thirds of cigarette packs in an effort to reduce the number of smokers by 2.4 million.

There will also be a ban on flavoured cigarettes such as menthol varieties.

Politicians voted for the larger warning labels, with the inclusion of graphic pictures such as cancer infested lungs and tighter regulation of e cigarettes.

Health advocates welcome the legislation as a milestone in helping to reduce the number of smokers in the 28 nation bloc, while the tobacco industry condemns it as a burdensome regulation stymieing a legal industry, which is heavily taxed.

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The legislation will take effect in 2016 following what is expected to be a rubber stamp approval procedure by EU governments next month.

Pro smoking groups have criticised a “nanny state mentality”, but cancer charities have backed the measures.

The new rules to be introduced across the European Union include

&bull picture warnings must cover 65% of the front and back of every packet of cigarettes, with additional warnings on the top of the pack

&bull a ban on “lipstick style” packs aimed at women all packs must have at least 20 cigarettes to leave room for health warnings

&bull roll your own tobacco packs to have similar picture warnings

&bull a ban on promotional elements, such saying “this product is free of additives” or is less harmful than other brands

&bull a ban on flavoured cigarettes, such as menthol, fruit and vanilla

&bull a maximum nicotine concentration level for e cigarettes.

&bull EU wide tracking of cigarettes to combat illegal trade

Ministers are expected to endorse the rules in March, to come into force in May 2014. Member states will have two years to introduce the legislation.

The European Commission says the new rules will “deter young people from experimenting with, and becoming addicted to, tobacco” and should lead to a 2% drop in the amount smoked over the next five years.

EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said “Today is a great day for EU health policy.

Today marks a genuine turning point for European tobacco control ”

“The new rules will help to reduce the number of people who start smoking in the EU.

“These measures put an end to products which entice children and teenagers into starting to smoke in the European Union.”

However, the director of the pro smoking campaign group Forest, Simon Clark said banning menthol cigarettes was a ban on consumer choice that “will do little” to deter children from smoking.

He also questioned the need for plain packaging legislation to remove any branding from packs, which is being considered in some EU countries, including the UK.